[Fwd: Re: Shaming Redux (was Re: [Fwd: Culture and Technology (was Re: Abortion, Killing etc)]]

[Katha Pollitt <kpollitt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Andrew Wayne Austin wrote:
>
> On Sat, 28 Aug 1999, Katha Pollitt wrote:
>
> >You seem to assume people are just waiting to hear your opinion of their
> >behavior, and that, at bottom, they share your ideas about how to live.
> >Neither of these things are necessarily true.
>
> Aren't you one to talk, Katha. Doesn't your livelihood rests on assuming
> people want to hear your opinion and that they will share your ideas about
> life?

   Dear andy -- writing a column about politics is a different activity
than confronting individuals personally about their private lives.  A
column is not an intrusion -- readers have the choice to subscribe or
not, to read or not, to respond as they please etc. I try not to preach,
actually -- it doesn't win any hearts.
 I would not criticize you for writing or advocating (or "preaching")
your ideas about how to live. I might criticize the  ideas, or the
expression, but not the activity per se. What i am talking about is
assuming you have the right to "reform" people you know by instructing
them on how to live. I can't imagine that this activity has a high
success rate -- people on M-Fem share a great deal of your world view,
and most still think "shaming" is off the wall, don't share your
personal vision of the moral life etc.

 PS if you think writing a column is just like lecturing your friends, I
think you should give it a try and see how far you get.

Katha


Katha